The Secret Santa Series, Part III : Jackie & Hyde
by Ultrawoman
Summary: Cross-Fandom Christmas Series. Part III of IV. Set in Christmas of Season 3. Hyde and Jackie agreed after their first date that they were never going to work out, but maybe they were wrong... JH


**A/N: This is the third part in a cross-fandom series (with Parts 1, 2, and 4 in Veronica Mars, Smallville, and How I Met Your Mother fandoms) and I hope you enjoy it! :-)**

_**Disclaimer : All recognisable characters from 'That 70's Show' do not belong to me in any way at all.**_

The Secret Santa Series, Part III - Jackie & Hyde

"Hey, Hyde!" Eric called to his friend just as he was making for the front door, "We found this under the tree" he said, turning a box over in his hands and then tossing it towards Hyde who caught it with both hands against his chest.

He looked as bemused as Forman, gazing down through his tinted glasses at the small package he now held. The almost professional wrapping, complete with ribbon and bow, suggested female hands had been at work, but Hyde couldn't imagine this was from Mrs Forman. She would have wanted to give him a present herself, whilst hugging and kissing him in that way that he pretended he hated and secretly loved; she was the mother he wished he could have had.

"Huh" he said as he tried to think who else had left him such a thing, barely noticing Eric moving to stand before him as he unwrapped the overly pretty paper to reveal a plain white box.

Removing the lid, Hyde was a little stunned by the sight that met his eyes. Inside the box, nestled in tissue paper, was a large silver belt buckle, bearing the words 'Led Zeppelin' over a male angel that punched the air with his fists. The whole thing just screamed both cool and a need to fight the power - it was Hyde to a T, and he loved it.

"Hey, what's this?" Eric asked as he stooped to pick up a piece of paper from the carpet, "I think it fell out of the box..." he said handing it to Hyde, who took it without even looking, his eyes still fixed on the contents of the box in his other hand.

Moving to the couch after a moment's pause, Hyde took off his glasses and threw them on the table with the wrapping from his gift, and the box itself with the belt buckle in it. Opening up the note, he cleared his throat intending to read the words aloud to Eric who stood leaning over the back of the couch. He changed his mind when he realised he recognised the handwriting.

'_Steven,_

_Please don't be mad, but I really wanted you to have this._

_I bought it before our date that turned out to be such a disaster._

_I really hope you like it, even if I don't understand what's so great about Led Zeppelin._

_Merry Christmas._

_Love, Jackie x'_

"I thought Jackie was over her whole obsessive love thing?" Eric frowned as he read the note over his friends shoulder.

"She is, man" Hyde said quickly, stuffing the paper in his inside pocket, before picking up his gift once again and staring down at it.

Eric muttered some kind of 'whatever' before leaving Hyde alone with his own thoughts that were moving thick and fast through his head. It was crazy, Jackie was so different to him, and though he'd trained her to be somewhat Zen and their date together hadn't been the worst night of his life, she was still pretty much his polar opposite. That was what he'd thought but now, it was like she knew him better than anyone. He wore a lot of rock band T-shirts, she'd clearly noticed Led Zepellin was a particular feature, and he probably talked about them on their date at some point when trying to teach her the evils of Abba by comparison with decent music. Still, the fact she'd thought about it enough to go out and find him this gift, it was amazing to the young man who was used to no Christmas presents at all, or something cheap and thoughtless from his mother at best.

Pulling the note from his pocket, Hyde re-read the words Jackie had written. Their disaster of a date; that wasn't really fair, since the date itself had gone pretty well. They talked and found they had a few things in common, and what they didn't like the same they could bicker about in good humour. They'd had fun, which had kind of shocked Steven Hyde, and then had come the moment when they finally shared a kiss, only for Jackie to admit she felt nothing.

'Did you feel anything? I didn't feel anything' the words rang in his head even now, along with his own slightly hesitant answer.

Hyde had agreed with her, said he felt nothing, looked and sounded like he meant it. He'd been so glad to have his glasses to hide behind that night, so pleased Jackie wasn't half so good at reading people as he was. He was a liar, he'd felt something, in fact he'd felt everything, and yet he daren't admit it when Jackie didn't seem willing to. Maybe she'd lied herself, there was no way to know without admitting his own feelings and that was something Steven Hyde never did.

Leaning back into the couch cushions, staring down at the Christmas gift in his hand, Hyde thought it over and made a decision that might make this festive season a little different.

* * * * *

Jackie loved Christmas. Usually by now she'd be so happy and in the spirit, unfortunately, it wasn't so easy this year. Her mother was both drunk and absent once again, whilst her father was too busy for her, as so often was true lately. Jackie could cope alone, but she didn't like to. She at least usually had a man in her life, but with Michael dumped like the dog he was, and her relationship with Steven Hyde over before it even really began, Jackie was left with only herself for company.

Thinking of Hyde made her feel bad, not just because it reminded her that they hadn't made it to couple status, but more so because she'd done something terrible to him - she had lied to him about her feelings. It wasn't a conscious decision. Their date was going so well and when he kissed her it was as magical and perfect as she'd imagined it might be, maybe even better than she'd expected, but fear clutched her heart the moment they parted and she just couldn't bear to lay it out there where it might get stomped on. She'd said she felt nothing, before Steven had a chance to say it first. They had agreed to be friends and nothing else, a compromise that hurt Jackie more than comforted her.

All she could do was hope that Steven liked the Christmas gift she'd left under the Formans tree for him. One day maybe they'd get another shot at a relationship, maybe he'd grow to love her as much as she knew she still loved him, and then they could be so happy together. For now, Jackie hugged her favourite stuffed unicorn to her chest and wished the world away.

Unfortunately, no amount of wishing was going to make it all leave her alone, and before long there was a knock on the door before Teresa, the maid, poked her head into the bedroom.

"Excusey, Miss Jackie" she said in her thick foreign accent, "This was on front porch for you" she explained, scurrying into the room, depositing a flat square parcel onto the bed and rushing out again.

"Teresa!" Jackie called behind her, making her stop in the doorway, "You didn't see who left this?" she asked, but the maid shook her head.

"No, Miss Jackie" she confirmed, before disappearing from sight, pulling the door shut behind her.

Jackie was confused as she stared down at the odd package, wrapped in newspaper and tied up with string, with her name printed clearly on the front. So, far from the gifts she bought and had store wrapped in pretty paper and ribbon, there was only one person who could have left a present like this and yet, Jackie could hardly let herself believe it as she picked up the item and began to pull off the wrapping.

As she'd guessed it might be, the paper contained a record, though the plain cover gave no clue as to what might be contained, even the label on the record itself had been covered so she had no clue of the contents.

Jackie's only clue was the buyer of the gift who's handwriting she recognised immediately she spotted the note scribbled on the records blank make-shift sleeve.

'_Jackie,_

_You want to know how it is?_

_Side One, Track 4._

_Stay Zen, babe._

_Hyde'_

Jackie wasn't sure what to make of those words, except maybe the Zen part which made her smile. It was during that time when she'd turned to Steven for help with being as cool and aloof as he was that she'd realised she was falling in love with him. He'd hated her then, or so he said, but at least this gift was real proof he liked her now. You just didn't buy Christmas presents for people you didn't like, that would be ridiculous, to say the least.

Realising the only thing to do was what the note said, Jackie moved over to her record player and set her new record on it, setting it to play Track 4 as she'd been instructed. The melody was unfamiliar, but the voice that soon started singing was less so. This was Led Zeppelin, she didn't have to be a fan of the band in question to know that, and she smiled as she realised that Hyde's gift to her perfectly matched her present for him. It was only as she focused on the words of the song playing that Jackie started to realise something else too. Had she known anything about Led Zeppelin, she would have figured out this record was their second album and that the song was called Thank You.

Each line of the lyrics meant something, Jackie was sure as she listened to the song, and tears came to her eyes as she realised what this meant. Gratitude for the gift she'd bought him was evident, but it meant so much more. If the lyrics of the song were to be believed, Steven Hyde had told as big a lie as she had on their date that night. He loved her too, no doubt about it, and that was the greatest Christmas gift Jackie Burkhart had ever received in her whole life.

- The End -

**A/N2: As we are not allowed to use lyrics in fics posted here, lyrics to Thank You by Led Zeppelin can be found here: ****http : // www . azlyrics . com / lyrics / ledzeppelin /thankyou .html**** - just take the spaces out ;-)**


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